Aftermath
by slidershal
Summary: Post 'The Assault'. Everything's gone. Thier home, their transport, their lives. But Shalimar and Brennan have just found each other. How do they survive when Shalimar can't decide what is right? To love and to lose, or to never love at all...
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first chapter of many...**

In the darkness, Shalimar lay curled in Brennan's arms. Softly, she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, pressed her lips to his neck. He stirred, but did not wake. Her hands found their way under his t-shirt, skimming over his chest, his hard stomach. She wanted him to make love with her.

Their first time together had been hurried and urgent. They had come together in a rush of desire, desperate and hard, and over far too quickly in the race to finish what they had started before it was too late. It had been a long time coming – she couldn't deny that any longer – but not, she realized, what it should have been between them. Or what she wanted.

She'd felt something unexpected with him. The instant he'd kissed her that very first time, it became about more than finishing anything. Kissing him, being with him, it was like finding something she hadn't even known she was missing. The words had been right there on her lips... but she'd held them back, pushed them aside. Brennan had been right about one thing; there was no going back. And yes, she was afraid of it, but not as afraid as she was of never finding out what there was between them.

Life was borrowed time – she knew that all too well. Her genetic structure was a ticking timebomb. So was Brennan's. They could go at any time, mutating out of control until their DNA self-destructed. Unless one of Adam's treatments cured them – there was no way for them to know now, with Adam missing and the copies of their medical files lost. Even Adam said that he didn't know what he did that saved Jesse. Her life, their lives, were too uncertain to waste the precious time they had on fear, but she was afraid all the same.

She and Brennan, they'd had sex, but she was still afraid to really go there with him, to let it be more – she prayed that he would never know how weak he made her.

Brennan made a soft sound beside her, and sleepily his hand came up, tangling in the hair at the back of her head. She turned her face into his palm, pressing a soft kiss there. His thumb stroked her cheek, brushed her lips, then went still, his arm dropping to wrap around her. He was well and truly asleep, exhausted she knew, and not waking up any time soon it seemed. Putting her arms around him she sighed, going still.

She should have been exhausted, too. She was, but she couldn't sleep. Everything she had ever known was gone. Everything. Sanctuary had been her home since she was a teenager, and the only real home that she'd ever had. Now it lay in ruin, gone, wiped out by the not-so-clandestine Dominion. All she had left to her name were the clothes on her back. Her home...gone. All of her belongings...gone. Even their comlink rings... useless without Sanctuary's communications hub.

Brennan was the only one of them that had any money. Lucky for them, he'd had his wallet in his pocket when all hell had broken loose, or they wouldn't even have a roof over their heads right now. In the morning they would be back to square one – Brennan couldn't afford the motel room for more than one night. Maybe it was stupid, but she wanted nothing more than to go back to Sanctuary, even if there was nothing left. Their situation now was far too close to her life before Adam for comfort. Shalimar knew the streets intimately, and it was a life that she never wanted to revisit again. Only Adam and his Sanctuary had saved her from it, and now both were gone.

The icy grip of fear was not something that Shalimar was used to. She couldn't ever remember feeling this vulnerable, not even in that other life before Adam rescued her. The only safety she knew now, in a reality of frightening uncertainty, was lying beside her.

She jumped, startled out of her thoughts when she heard Jesse shift somewhere across the room. Sweet Jesse, the one that she had known the longest, who shouldn't even be here now, except that something Adam had done appeared to have cured his unstable genes. Ever the gallant gentleman, it was Jesse who had offered for she and Lexa to take the beds.

It was only after she was certain that that Lexa and Jesse were both deeply asleep that she invited Brennan into her bed. Why did it matter? She was pretty sure that Jesse knew, from the way he'd reacted seeing them right after, the things that he'd said. Why keep it a secret? Maybe because their encounter had only been intended as an experiment. But the attraction was still there, and changing into something more. Something, she realized, that had been between them all along.

Her friends would know in the morning, wouldn't they, when they awakened and saw she and Brennan together.

She shivered, feeling cold, and huddled more tightly against Brennan's warmth. Eyes closing, she let her mind drift, and remembered...

"Shal?"

A hand on her shoulder shook her gently.

"Shal."

Blearily, she opened her eyes. Sunlight was streaming in through a crack in the window curtains. Morning already – she felt as though she had only just fallen asleep.

"I was beginning to think you'd never wake up," Brennan said, smiling softly as he looked down at her.

A chill shot down her spine. Another Brennan had said those same words to her once, in a fantasy world where she'd woken and discovered they were man and wife...

"What's wrong?" he asked her, seeing her expression change.

He always knew.

She closed her eyes, shaking off the strange feeling.

"Aside from what's already wrong?" she asked him, finding her voice thick from sleep. "Nothing."

He laughed a little at that, but there was worry in his eyes, the same worry that was weighing on them all.

Something was missing. Her feral sixth sense was telling her that much. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking around.

"Where are Lexa and Jess?"

"Getting us some breakfast," he said. "They should be back soon."

She sat up... and winced when the pain hit her, radiating up one entire side from her hip to her shoulder. Brennan reached for her. Instinct made her push his hands away, at first. Gently her lifted her camisole, seeing the bruising on the skin beneath. She'd taken a nasty fall from the upper level when that weapon had exploded in Sanctuary. The landing had not been kind to her.

"I'm fine," she told him, pushing his hands back once more. The bruising, for that was all it was, would heal quickly enough. One advantage to being a feral.

He sat looking at her, warmth softening his eyes. "I would have let you sleep longer; I didn't want to wake you up. But we have to check out soon, so if you want to take a shower, now is the time."

A shower...yes. That would do her a world of good. She needed only to ask, she was sure, for him to join her... She got up quickly, ignoring the painful protests of her body, and walked stiffly into the small bathroom, closing the door behind her.

The hot water cascading over her sore body felt good, better than she expected. The warmth eased her tiredness somewhat, and did much for her aches and pains. She could feel Brennan in the other room, waiting. His nearness was making her senses go crazy. Ever since their encounter, she was almost too aware of him.

She dried off and dressed quickly, drying her hair with a towel as best she could. Her clothes weren't any cleaner, and they looked a little worse for wear, but at least she felt better. It was a start.

She stepped out of the bathroom, tossing the towel she'd been using on her hair onto the small counter behind her. From across the room, Brennan's scent carried to her, familiar, but different. He smelled of fresh soap and something unmistakably male, but the slightly spicy tang of aftershave that she was so used to was absent. She missed it.

Smell, she had read somewhere, was the strongest sense tied to memory. She could almost smell it now, that same spice, remembering it rising off of his skin wherever she kissed him, being surrounded by it. It was only yesterday that he had been hers, so suddenly after so long, only yesterday that she had felt him so deeply inside...

It was only when Brennan finally looked up at her that she realized she was just standing there, staring at him. Could she trust herself with Brennan now? No, she didn't think she could. Already her heart was racing. Brennan wasn't unaffected either, the way his brown eyes melted when finally they looked into hers. He felt it too.

"Better?"

She sighed heavily, daring to sit on the bed beside him. "Define 'better'" was her reply. She didn't dare look in his eyes, not being this close...

"Shal, you're not..." he began, then stopped. Nervousness was coming off of him in waves. "You don't...regret anything, do you?"

Maybe if her train of thought just then had been following his, she would have understood. "What do you mean?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Us. You don't regret what we did, do you?"

She felt stupid for not understanding right away. He wasn't expecting her warm smile, or her taking his hand in hers. "I could never regret that, Brennan."

He returned her warmth with his gaze, along with warmth of his own.

She looked away. Her eyes wandered to the wound on his biceps. The bullet had only grazed him-he was lucky to have escaped worse. Lightly she touched his arm.

"You need a doctor - "

"Its not as bad as it looks. It just hurts." He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I'll be good as new in no time."

She wanted him. She couldn't hide it anymore. A distant part of her mind wondered how long they had before Jess and Lexa came back... If she and Brennan were both really dying, she didn't want to waste the time they had left.

She took his face in her hands, the stubble on his cheeks rough against her palms. His eyes were searching hers. When she kissed him this time, it was different. His mouth was so warm and so sweet, and she took her time, kissing him slowly, softly, the way that she should have before, without hurry or urgency. She felt it stirring inside her, something so much more than simple attraction...

Brennan turned his face away. He held her back, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Brennan...?"

"Shal... I know what happened with us, but..." He sighed. "So much has happened since then, and maybe right now you shouldn't-"

"I don't care," she interrupted, because she knew what he was going to say, and why. He wasn't wrong for saying it, except that she had wanted this since before all the tragedy had begun, since she'd relaxed against his body, spent and sated after the tempest that was their first time had subsided. He would have given in to her, had the knock at the door not come the next moment.

Jesse's voice came muffled through the door. "Brennan? It's us."

Fate had spoken loud and clear once again.

Shalimar let her head fall briefly onto Brennan's shoulder before she let him go. Smoothly he stood, and in two long strides he was at the door, opening it.

Jesse walked in first, a white styrofoam container in hand. He stopped just inside the doorway, looking first at Brennan, then at her, and back. He had that odd look on his face again. Okay, what's different about you two? was the question he had asked the last time he gave them that look. This time he stayed silent. He hesitated only a moment before walking the rest of the way into the room. Lexa followed him, seemingly unaware, carrying and identical container in her hands.

Yeah, Jesse knew, even if he didn't know the details. Shalimar fought a blush that threatened to color her cheeks.

She saw Lexa reach into her coat pocket, handing a wad of cash back to Brennan. The last of their money. She noted that the amount didn't seem to have diminished any. Flipping through the bills, Brennan, with surprise, noted the same.

"I thought you were gonna get breakfast?"

"We did," Jesse replied, holding out the container in his hands.

Brennan's brow furrowed. "How did you pay for it? This is all the money that I gave you."

It was Lexa's turn to answer. "We didn't."

Shalimar raised an eyebrow at her. She could smell the food from where she sat. No answer.

"Oh," Jesse finally chimed in when he realized that he had missed his cue. "Free buffet down in the lobby." He grinned.

Brennan grinned back at him. "Took you two long enough, for such a short trip."

Jesse shrugged. "Yeah well, we decided to eat down there," he explained. He looked at his hands, fidgeting for a moment. "We thought we'd give you guys some time."

Brennan's eyebrows raised in askance. "Time?"

"Space! I meant space," Jesse covered in a hurry. "You know, since the four of us have been cooped up in here since last night."

Brennan was watching him suspiciously. "Mmm-hm."

Shalimar saw Lexa's mouth twitch, on the verge of breaking into a grin. So she knew, too, did she? Either Lexa had figured it out for herself (which admittedly wasn't hard, since it was Lexa who had called her on her "Brennan issues" in the first place), or Jesse had been talking to her. Shalimar nearly giggled. She had never taken Jess for a gossip. She supposed that it should have upset her, but the whole idea of it was just too funny, especially when she saw how freaked out Jess seemed to get over her 'thing' with Brennan.

It would almost be worth it, to tell him everything in explicit detail, just to watch him squirm. Serve him right if he was talking to Lexa.

She sniffed – the food Lexa and Jess had brought smelled good, and it had been so long since she'd eaten... Her stomach growled loudly and heads turned, all eyes focusing squarely on her.

"What?"

Brennan's smile was wicked. "Is there anything ferals do that isn't wild and ferocious?" he asked her.

The look in his eyes made her heart speed up. She returned it with a knowing gaze, equally wicked, grinning. Good thing that neither Lexa or Jess could see her face – desire was written all over it.

"You tell me," she dared.

Jesse chose that moment to cough, awfully strategically she thought.

"Food's getting cold you guys."

**Please R&R Guys!**

**I'll update ASAP!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I only got 2 reviews for the last chapter!**

**Please R&R! I need to know how you're finding the story so i can keep on writing how you like it!**

"So what do we do now?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah," Lexa seconded. "We're homeless, without any resources-" she looked at Brennan- "and nearly broke. It's only a matter of time before the Dominion starts hunting us. How can we fight anyone like this?"

"We can't," Shalimar said flatly. She stood, head hung, staring at the pavement underneath her feet. Their helplessness made her want to panic. "Maybe if we went back to Sanctuary-"

Lexa snorted at that, and instantly she regretted opening her mouth.

Brennan's hands squeezed her shoulders, and she leaned into him. Gently he said, "Shal, you know that I breached the power core. When it went up it would have taken everything else with it."

"Not everything," Jesse said. Under one arm he cradled a laptop he'd kept on the Helix. Adam had taken it before the vehicle was destroyed – Jesse had it now. "Adam plugged a drive into here that contains the entire new mutant database and most of his research files."

"But our medical files are missing, right?" Brennan asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"At least that's something," Lexa said, surprisingly without sarcasm. "Which brings us back to square one again."

"We've got to do something to get back on our feet," Brennan thought aloud. "Get some money and a place to stay so that we can get back to work."

Lexa turned on him. "So you're saying that we get nine-to-fives, and in our free time we can save the world riding around in a minivan?" she demanded. "Its not possible, Brennan. You're dreaming."

"That's not what I'm saying, Lex." His words were almost a shout. He got his frustration back under control. "If you've got any ideas, I'd sure like to hear them."

Lexa fell silent.

"Check this out," Brennan said more calmly. "We still have contacts. The new mutant underground still exists. There must be someone in all of that that can help us."

"We don't even know if we can trust any of them anymore," Lexa reminded him. "And how long before the underground breaks down without us?"

"Fine. Even simpler – we need a place to stay. Somewhere safe where we can lay low for a while..."

Shalimar was only half-listening to them. A gust of sharply cold wind assaulted her. She huddled closer to Brennan against the chill. It wasn't exactly summer outside. She wished, not for the first time that day, that she could have dressed more warmly. Only one other time in her life had the city seemed so cold and unforgiving. She couldn't go back to that. She couldn't...

This was going nowhere.

Shalimar found herself speaking before the thought had even fully formed in her head.

"My father."

"I thought you weren't exactly on good terms with him." Brennan had knack for stating the obvious, but this time he had missed the mark somewhat.

"We're not the best of friends." That much was true. But things had started to change between her and her father. "He'll help us. I know he will."

"You don't have to do this, Shal." There was both sympathy and understanding in Jesse's voice.

"Yes," she said, "I do. Where else can we go?"

"Maybe a safehouse-"

"We can't get in without the access codes, and those were in the Sanctuary mainframe. You know that. And who knows how long it would take to get in contact with the underground and have someone let us in. We'd be out on the streets. Easy targets."

"He thinks we're freaks," Brennan argued.

"It isn't like that," she argued back, surprised to find herself defending her father. "At the end he understood. He saw what we were fighting for and why." Her eyes burned into Brennan's. "He'll help us." She hesitated, not totally comfortable with the simple truth. "I'm still his daughter."

"As long as you're sure," Brennan said more softly.

"I'm sure."

The conversation ended there. All of them knew they had nowhere else to go.

There was a payphone just around the corner. Shalimar went to it, leaving her friends behind. Her hand trembled a little as she reached for the receiver. It was hard for her still... She wanted to hate Nicholas Fox for what he had done to her, what he had allowed to be done to her, but she couldn't. She hadn't forgiven him, either. The wounds were too deep. But after NAXCON, in a bizarre twist of fate, she realized that she still loved her father, and he was the only one that she could turn to now.

She pressed the zero key and got the operator, asking to make a collect call. She waited, praying that someone on the other end would pick up. There was a click that average human ears would never have heard, and an automated voice informed her that her call had been accepted. She let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.

There was only silence at first. Then her father's tentative voice came over the line.

_"Shalimar?"_

"It's me, dad," she answered.

She heard him exhale with... was it relief? No. That wasn't the right word.

_"I wondered if I would hear from you again."_

There had been so many times after NAXCON that she'd wanted to pick up the phone... It was easy to say that left over bitterness had kept her from it, and it wasn't totally untrue. But she had been protecting him, too, by simply staying away. A quick call to the hospital after the accident had told her that he was going to be okay. It had just been easier that way.

She was reaching out to him now because she didn't have anything else.

_"Shalimar, are you all right?"_ Her silence had tipped him off.

"My friends and I... we're in some trouble."

_"What kind of trouble?" _

In his voice she heard fear, concern, everything that a father should be feeling, hearing his child say something like that.

"I can't tell you that right now," was all she could say.

_"Were are you? I'll come get you - " _

"My friends are coming with me."

_"Of course. Just tell me where you are, Shalimar."_

She did.

_"Okay," _he said when she was through. _"I'll be there as soon as I can."_

She hung up, realizing that she hadn't thanked him.

Rejoining her friends, she was numb now from the cold.

"What did he say?" Jesse wanted to know the instant she reappeared.

"He's on his way," she said. "It shouldn't be long."

They all looked as relieved as Shalimar felt, to one degree or another. The cold weather was unforgiving, and none of them relished the idea of spending the night out in it on the street.

Half an hour passed, then half again – still no sign of Nicholas Fox. Brennan was pacing anxiously at the mouth of the alley where they waited, searching.

"He'll be here," Shalimar assured him, coming to stand by his side.

"You seem to have an awful lot of faith. Remember, this is the guy that locked you away in an asylum."

She shook her head. She was trying to put those memories behind her. The last time she had seen her father, he had made her think that maybe there was a chance she could. "He isn't that man anymore, Brennan."

"Are you sure of that?"

No. She wasn't. But her father had proved something to her by destroying NAXCON, almost his entire life's work, rather than let Eckhart carry out his plan. She was inclined to trust him, for now, tenuous as that trust might be.

She glanced down the street and saw it, the black SUV slowing as it came nearer to the alley. Nicholas Fox was behind the wheel. Her hand touched Brennan's arm.

"He's here."

Brennan called to Lexa and Jesse, who had been sitting in virtual silence the entire time they'd been waiting. They were still stunned by what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Shalimar knew the feeling.

Nicholas pulled his SUV into the alley and killed the engine, getting out the instant he laid eyes on Shalimar. He stopped just short of putting his arms around her. He must have known that she wasn't ready for that yet. His hand touched her arm instead, albeit hesitantly. She didn't stiffen at his touch the way she would have once.

Shalimar noted the protective glare that Brennan was directing at her father. But it was all right – she didn't need protection from this man anymore. She knew that now, looking at him, hard as it was for her to accept.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Nicholas asked her.

She shook her head. "Not here. I just... I just need your help." It wasn't easy for her, asking that of anyone. It wasn't in her nature.

Her father didn't say anything at first.

"Shalimar, it doesn't matter what it is – "

"I promise we'll explain later. We just need a place to stay for a little while."

"Of course." He opened the passenger door for her. "Get in."


	3. Chapter 3

**I've decided to split the story up into many fanfics and to trun it into a series!**

**This is the last chapter for this story.**

**The next one shud be up tomrow - or if not then on saturday hopfully.**

When night fell they were all more than ready for sleep. Lexa and Jesse had taken the guestroom with the two single beds. Shalimar had the spacious bed in her father's room, at her father's insistence, while he moved to the couch in the den. Brennan was across the hall from her, stretched out on the couch in her father's office. She didn't think that he would stay there.

Shalimar lay awake, listening to the ticking of the clock on the nightstand. With every tick she expected Brennan to knock at the door. She fell asleep still waiting for him.

The sound of a low-flying helicopter brought her awake with a start, making her sit bolt upright in bed. Heart pounding, she realized that it was circling directly above the house. That was when the bedroom door was kicked open, torn from its hinges, molding splintering.

Men in night-black assault gear, faces masked and goggled, carrying automatic weapons, flooded into the room. Before she even had a chance to react they got the restraint, a claw like device on the end of a long pole, around her neck. The claw squeezed, constricting her airway. She couldn't breathe.

Only men who knew what they were hunting, a feral mutant, would have those devices. The Dominion. How did they find them so quickly? The Dominion headquarters had been destroyed when the Helix went up, but it seemed that hadn't slowed them down in the slightest.

She gagged, choking soundlessly, the restraint only getting tighter. She clawed at the restraint, but it was useless. They had her and her strength was failing. Darkness was closing in at the edges of her vision.

She heard it dimly, the sound of hard footfalls, someone running down the hallway toward her room.

"Hey!" came a shout from the doorway just seconds later. "Leave her alone!"

The restraint around her neck slackened for the briefest of moments, just long enough for her to suck in a breath. Her vision cleared, in time for her to see Brennan come charging into the room.

He threw a bolt of electricity at the nearest commando. She tried to shout, tried to tell him to leave her and run... All she could manage was to choke out his name brokenly before the restraint clamped her windpipe shut once more. His electricity had no effect. The commandos were wearing elemental-proof armor.

The commando that Brennan had just tried to zap turned, leveling his weapon at his mutant attacker, and fired. She saw Brennan fall, blood oozing out from under his hand where he clutched his chest, his mouth an 'o' of shock and pain.

Whatever came over her the next instant, it was as though the restraint holding her never existed. A wordless roar of primal, instinctual rage tore from her, and she leapt for the man who had pulled the trigger. She tackled him with all of her strength, knocking him to the floor in a tangle of limbs and struggling bodies. With her superior strength and agility, she had the edge.

"Shalimar, what are you doing?"

The voice, a pained, surprised shout, made her freeze. She blinked. The commandos were gone. The bedroom door was still in one piece. She listened for the helicopter. No sign of it, not even in the distance, nothing but the sound of her harsh breathing. There was only Brennan, who lay pinned beneath her with his arm wrenched painfully behind his back. Realizing it was him, she released him immediately.

Brennan sat up, holding his arm. "Why did you attack me?"

"I thought..." she started and trailed off. "You're not dead."

"Should I be?" he asked, incredulous.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. "I was dreaming..."

"Must have been one hell of a dream."

Concern washed over her when she saw the way he was cradling his arm. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No," he said testing his arm carefully. "Just scared the crap out of me."

"You shouldn't sneak up on me."

Caught in the throes of a nightmare that had seemed so real, her instincts had been on overload. When he'd tried to wake her, she had simply reacted. Reflexive feral instinct – it could be dangerous if uncontrolled. Usually for her, controlling it wasn't a problem. With the stress they were all under now, she didn't have much control of anything. She could have really hurt him...

"Sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," he said, hauling himself onto his feet. He helped her up as well. "Why did you have to go after my bad arm?"

"Feral instinct," she said. "I knew your weakness."

His hand touched her face, his touch turning quickly into a caress. His eyes looked steadily into hers, searching.

"Are your instincts telling you what my weakness is now?"

She closed her eyes, leaning into his hand. "I thought you weren't coming."

"I was waiting, to make sure everyone was in bed, and I fell asleep. I didn't mean to..."

His arms encircled her waist and pulled her gently to him, into his warmth, holding her lightly. Her heart beat faster, feeling the heat of his body against hers, the hard muscles of his thighs and his stomach. She knew what he felt like, but not completely. There hadn't been time before, to know all of him. They could have each other now, with no barriers between them. There was time. He was here, if she wanted him.

She had wanted him before, badly enough to seek him out after only a promise offered in one conversation, and the almost-kiss that had followed. She felt that same desire now. Still, standing there trembling in his arms, she hesitated.

"Where is this going, Brennan? With us?"

He smiled. His eyes were molten pools. "I told you, Shal," he said softly, "we can go anywhere you want..."

Her heart was pounding so hard now that she thought it might burst. She had made her choice. She didn't need to understand it. All she knew was him, and he was the only thing that she wanted.

His hands glided slowly up from her waist, brushing over her bare shoulders, before gently framing her face. He saw the answer in her eyes. Slowly, he lowered his mouth, and his lips brushed hers once, just the slightest touch, then again. She inhaled his scent, turning her face up, letting her breath out in a soft, trembling sigh.

It was when his lips pressed fully against hers, warm and so sweet, that the thrill went through her, arcing to some secret place deep within. She let her mouth open to him, felt his tongue slide between her lips, hot and slick, and let her own dip into the heat of his mouth. She made a soft sound of pleasure against his lips. He tasted so good...

His hands found their way back to her waist, pulling her hard against his body. The evidence of his desire pressed against the softness of her belly, sending a new rush of heat through her. She nipped at his upper lip none-too-gently then, and felt him smile against her lips. Pounding heart roaring in her ears, her impulses screamed for her to capture him, to take all of him in a tumult of desire. It was the most primal instinct of all, powerful and insistent, and it took considerable effort for her to turn it aside. She wasn't going to give in to it like the last time, and ruin these perfect moments laid out for them.

She got a hold of the hem of his t-shirt, tugging on it, pushing it up to expose his muscular chest and abdomen. She kissed him, a spot just below his collarbone, making a wet patch where she tasted him. He shuddered hard, a groan escaping him. Pulling his shirt up over his head, she cast it aside.

His hands slid up under her camisole, his touch burning into her skin. Softly her stroked her back, and then he was touching her, caressing... He pressed a kiss to the hollow of her throat as her head fell back, her body bowing in his arms. Her nails raked down his back. He found the fastener at the back of her top and popped it open. Pushing the straps from her shoulders, she let it fall to the floor. He moved to the snap on her jeans and pulled the zipper. The backs of his fingers brushed her hipbones, her belly, and she nearly sobbed.

Brennan pulled her close, just holding her, and she rested her head on his chest. She heard his heart pounding in time with her own. His bare skin felt so good pressed against hers, burning with heat. It was so good, being with him like this...

His hand slid along her jaw, turning her face up, and she looked into his eyes, completely melted with his want of her. He kissed her mouth softly, letting his lips linger on hers, sending a shudder through her. She leaned into the kiss. She couldn't help it, not with her heart so open. She was drowning in him and completely helpless to stop it. She didn't want to stop.

Both of them naked now from the waist up, they knelt on the bed. They took their time with each other, touching, kissing, and exploring with a wonder there hadn't been time for in their last –and only – encounter.

Brennan's hands slid over her skin, and she wept at his touch, that had such tenderness in it, tasting her own tears as she kissed him. She had never, ever surrendered like this, not with anyone. There had never been anyone that she trusted enough, to leave all that she was exposed and vulnerable.

The rest of their clothing came away, and he laid her down gently on the bed, as though she were some fragile object that would shatter without the greatest of care, all the while looking into her eyes.

"You're so beautiful, Shal..." he whispered.

She touched her fingers to his lips. This wasn't the time for words.

He came into her slowly, his body sliding up the length of hers, sinking deeply until his belly pressed flat against hers. She cried out with the pleasure of it, her nails digging into the flesh of his back.

His lips brushed her closed eyelids. "Did I hurt you?" he asked softly against her ear. He was thinking of how rough their last time had been.

"No," she breathed. Her tongue caressed his ear. "Brennan...please..."

He pressed a soft kiss to her neck, where her pulse throbbed just beneath the skin, racing with need. Moving in slow, languorous strokes, he brought his mouth to hers. Their kiss was slow and deep, and unhurried, his tongue sliding sweetly against hers, thrusting in rhythm with his body.

She gave herself over completely, letting pleasure mount in slow-building waves, while she rocked against him, dimly aware of the patter rain outside the bedroom window. It seemed to come from a great distance when it broke, moving in a great surge, a climax so vast, and so slow, and so good that she wept anew, burying her face against his shoulder. She closed her eyes, feeling it spiral outward, wave after wave breaking powerfully over her.

When she became aware again, she felt him, still moving inside her. Her eyes opened, looking deeply into his. She had to see...

It was his eyes that closed then, long lashes feathering over his cheeks. His body tensed, going rigid against hers as he spent himself, a sweet, hot throbbing deep inside of her that brought the waves crashing down on her all over again.

Afterward she slept, wrapped in the safety of his arms.

Later, when she woke, she let him make love to her again, in the first light of dawn. She didn't know when they would get another chance. Slow and sweet, it was everything it was meant to be between them.

It was love that she felt for Brennan, what she had always felt. She had been loving him all this time, completely unaware of it until these beautiful, tender moments here with him.

Now, they may not have any time left. If they couldn't find Adam, if they couldn't find the Creator and stop him, there was no future. It was that which kept her from telling Brennan what was in her heart, even though she ached to say it, just three simple words. _I love you..._

**R&R Please**


End file.
